Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Acquires Shares of 100,877 Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL)

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in shares of Rollins, Inc. (NYSE:ROL) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 100,877 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,102,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ROL. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Rollins during the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rollins in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rollins by 43.9% in the second quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 774 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Rollins by 10,233.3% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 930 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 921 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Rollins during the third quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Institutional investors own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

Rollins Stock Up 1.2 %

ROL stock opened at $51.24 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $49.53 and a 200-day moving average of $48.88. Rollins, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.72 and a fifty-two week high of $52.16. The company has a market capitalization of $24.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.38 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.01). Rollins had a return on equity of 38.67% and a net margin of 14.18%. The business had revenue of $916.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $911.15 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.28 EPS. Rollins’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Rollins, Inc. will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Rollins Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. This is a boost from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. Rollins’s payout ratio is presently 68.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Timothy Curtis Rollins sold 14,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total value of $735,730.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 124,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,195,794.32. This represents a 10.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 4,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.49, for a total transaction of $236,545.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 84,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,274,129.97. This trade represents a 5.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,120 shares of company stock worth $1,209,993 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ROL shares. StockNews.com downgraded Rollins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Rollins in a report on Monday, November 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Rollins from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Rollins has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.83.

Rollins Company Profile

Rollins, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides pest and wildlife control services to residential and commercial customers in the United States and internationally. The company offers pest control services to residential properties protecting from common pests, including rodents, insects, and wildlife.